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Dakar 2025, Stage 9: Al-Attiyah fastest as Al-Rajhi grabs overall lead

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Nasser Al-Attiyah bounced back from a difficult showing on Monday to claim victory on Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally, while a puncture for Toyota driver Henk Lategan promoted Yazeed Al-Rajhi to the overall lead.

Dacia’s Al-Attiyah and Ford rival Mattias Ekstrom initially duelled for victory in the 357km test between Riyadh and Haradh, with the two trading the lead in the first part of the day.

Qatar driver Al-Attiyah held the early advantage in his Dacia Sandrider before Ekstrom flexed his muscle to jump to the front 81km into the stage.

The five-time Dakar winner retook the lead at the following checkpoint and began to stretch his advantage in the second half of the day, pulling out a lead of over a minute with less than 100km to run.

As Ekstrom dropped further back, Al-Attiyah continued to chip away from his rivals, eventually reaching the finish line with a 2m47s margin over X-raid Mini’s Guillaume de Mevius, who moved up to second.

The Belgian stood third for much of the all-gravel stage on Tuesday, but leapfrogged Ekstrom at the 217km mark to secure his best finish of 2025 since his victory on Stage 6.

Meanwhile, Overdrive’s Al-Rajhi put in a solid performance in a customer Toyota to take third, demoting Ekstrom’s Ford to fourth place.

Al-Rajhi team-mate’s Rokas Backiuska rounded off the top five, ahead of the other Ford of debutant Mitch Guthrie Jr.

#201 Overdrive Racing Toyota: Yazeed Al Rajhi, Timo Gottschalk
© Autosport.com

 

#201 Overdrive Racing Toyota: Yazeed Al Rajhi, Timo Gottschalk

Photo by: A.S.O.

No factory Toyotas finished inside the top 10, as Guy Botterill crashed out at the 272km mark and Lategan suffered an early puncture that cost him seven minutes to fix.

The South African haemorrhaged more time later in the stage, eventually finishing 16 minutes back in 11th place – just a day after he had taken victory on Stage 8.

His troubles allowed Al-Rajhi to snatch the lead in the Ultimate class with just three stages remaining, the Saudi driver moving 7m09s clear at the top of the standings.

Ekstrom continues to hold third place on Ford’s maiden factory outing, with Al-Attiyah now less than a minute behind in the last-remaining Dacia.

Guthrie Jr sits half an hour adrift in fifth place, while Matthieu Serradori has strengthened his grip on sixth position despite a low-key outing on Tuesday.

Dakar 2025 – Results after Stage 9 (Top 10)

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1 Yazeed Al-Rajhi Toyota 33h43m58s
2 Henk Lategan Toyota 7m09s
3 Mattias Ekstrom Ford 24m50s
4 Nasser Al-Attiyah Dacia 25m21s
5 Mitch Guthrie Jr Ford 56m28s
6 Matthieu Serradori Century 1h06m52s
7 Juan Cruz Yacopini Toyota 1h44m41s
8 Seth Quintero Toyota 1h46m07s
9 Joao Ferreira Mini 2h11m02s
10 Brian Baragwanath Century 2h31m14s

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Euro 2025 semi-final fixtures confirmed

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The line-up for the semi-finals of the Women’s Euro 2025 tournament has been confirmed.

Germany were the last team to qualify, following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over France on Saturday night.

The game had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes after Grace Geyoro’s early penalty was cancelled out by Sjoeke Nusken’s header in the first half.

Ann-Katrin Berger was the hero, scoring a penalty and saving two in the shoot-out.

Germany will now take on Spain for a place in the final.

The other semi-final will see England take on Italy in Geneva.

SEMI-FINALS

July 22
England vs Italy (Geneva)

July 23
Germany vs Spain (Zurich)

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WAFCON 2024: Top scorers ahead of semi-final fixtures

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Morocco’s Ghizlane Chebbak and Senegal’s Nguenar Ndiaye are currently the joint-top scorers at the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON.

Chebbak and Ndiaye have four goals each to their names ahead of the semi-final fixtures.

Recall that Ghana defeated Algeria 4-2 on penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final following a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes on Saturday evening.

The outcome ensured Ghana advance to the last-4 stage where they will face Morocco on Tuesday night.

Also, South Africa defeated Senegal via penalty shoot-out in the other quarter-final encounter played on Saturday night.

South Africa will now face Nigeria in the semi-final fixture on Tuesday evening.

Top scorers at WAFCON so far:

Ghizlane Chebbak (Morocco) – 4 goals
Nguenar Ndiaye (Senegal) – 4 goals
Barbra Banda (Zambia) – 3 goals
Racheal Kundananji (Zambia) – 3 goals
Ibtissam Jraïdi (Morocco) – 3 goals
Chinwendu Ihezuo (Nigeria) – 3 goals
Mama Diop (Senegal) – 2 goals
Alice Kusi (Ghana) – 2 goals
Yasmine Mrabet (Morocco) – 2 goals

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Transfer: Osimhen to meet Galatasaray fans Tuesday

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Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen will meet with Galatasaray fans on Tuesday.

This was disclosed by football commentator, Hakan Gündoğar, who said Tuesday would be Osimhen’s arrival date in Istanbul.

“Osimhen will be in Istanbul on Tuesday. Clear information. He will meet with Galatasaray fans on Tuesday,” Gündoğar said (via habersarikirmizi).

“Galatasaray fans are expected to make one of the most historic welcomes for Victor Osimhen.”

Recall that Galatasaray and Napoli have both agreed on bank guarantees and payment plans for Osimhen‘s permanent transfer to the Turkish Super Lig champions this summer.

Galatasaray will pay the Serie A giants Osimhen’s €75m release clause in two instalments – €40m now and €35m within one year.

Osimhen, who spent the whole of last season at Galatasaray from Napoli had turned down huge money offers from Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal in order to move to Turkey.

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